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Bach, J S: Chorale Prelude BWV620 'Christus, der uns selig macht'

This page lists all recordings of Chorale Prelude BWV620 'Christus, der uns selig macht', by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) on CD, SACD & download (MP3 & FLAC). Generally, more recent releases are listed first, but with priority given to those that are in stock.

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BBC Music Magazine

Disc of the monthApril 2013

Gramophone Magazine

Disc of the MonthMarch 2013

All recordings

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Director John Butt has given listeners an interpretation that will provide a refreshing outlook on this masterpiece and will show the John Passion in a completely new light.

The Consort recreate the context of a passion performance during Bach’s time at Leipzig; the University of Glasgow Chapel Choir (directed by James Grossmith) and a congregational choir of amateur singers perform motets and chorales from an original Leipzig hymn book and John Butt takes centre stage to perform organ preludes on the Collins organ at Greyfriar’s Kirk in Edinburgh, where the recording took place.

‘The playing and the singing is outstanding, undoubtedly enhanced by John Butt's scholarly and revelatory handling of the score.’ The Observer (on J.S. Bach: Matthew Passion)

The Dunedin Consort has established a reputation as the finest single-part period performance choir currently performing, under the direction of prize-winning Bach specialist John Butt O.B.E.

The multi-award-winning Dunedin Consort has won praise for the natural style of its soloists and renown for the virtuosity of its singers.

Since receiving a Gramophone Award in 2007, Dunedin Consort has continued to receive accolades: Esther was voted one of the ‘Top 10 Classical Albums of 2012’ by The Times, 2011 saw them included in Gramophone’s ‘Twenty Greatest Choirs’ list and its recording of Bach’s Matthew Passion was named Building A Library: First Choice by BBC Radio 3 - CD Review.

“naturalness and emotional honesty are what emerge from this tight-knit and perfectly paced ensemble Passion, in which Bach's complex succession of recitatives, arias, choruses and chorales has surely seldom sounded so convincingly of a piece...[the singers] come across as a gathering of real people rather than a disembodied chorus. The fact that you can sometimes recognise a soloist's voice within the mix only adds to the impression of reality.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013

“The artists themselves bring pleasure, unless you’re allergic to the idiosyncratic, rather peevish tone of the tenor Nicholas Mulroy...Would that there were more chances to hear the soprano Joanne Lunn, clear as a bell, daisy-fresh. Around and about, Matthew Brook’s Jesus, the Dunedin Consort and their director John Butt attack the music with customary verve. Intimacy, too: the Consort choir numbers eight” The Times, 15th March 2013 ***

“a dramatic, exactingly nuanced, profoundly considered reading, compelling in its integrity and text-driven immediacy...Mulroy's firmly-contoured Evangelist balances the musical and narrative imperatives of the recitatives with judicious sensitivity...Brooks's Christus stands up to the crowd with a dignified yet firm resolve and hallowed charisma..Butt's contextualising demands to be heard: it's nothing short of a revelation” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 *****

“a really fine, taut, mainly single-voice account of Bach's music – led by Nicholas Mulroy's powerful Evangelist and Matthew Brook's affecting Christ – which somehow acquires new power for emerging from its spartan surroundings. John Butt's research and direction are an object lesson in musical study brought to compelling life.” The Observer, 24th March 2013

“Not only is this an exceptionally fine small-scale performance and recording with scholarly but readable notes, it attempts to bring us closer to the way in which the original listeners experienced the passion on Good Friday” MusicWeb International, March 2013

“The recording is a significant landmark in authentic Bach performance, but at the same time it's refreshingly relaxed around the edges (Butt doesn't pretend to have recreated the exact 1724 service, because there's no way of knowing what that was)” The Herald (Glasgow), March 2013

“All of the soloists are generally outstanding. Nicholas Mulroy's lithe, sensitive Evangelist is the epitome of narrative clarity and contrast beautifully with the calming, authoritative richness of Matthew Brook's Jesus...Both the reconstruction and the performance are carefully prepared, historically faithful and immaculately presented.” International Record Review, June 2013

An original concept: the Orgelbüchlein BWV 599‐644 performed alternating the organ chorale with the same choral sung by a choir.

Bach wrote the chorales in the Orgelbüchlein as educational material, to teach how to treat a chorale in polyphonic writing, but as in most of his works, the didactic element is far surpassed by the spiritual content of these miniature masterworks. The alternation of the organ and sung chorale provides a fascinating insight into Bach different treatment of the same melody.

New recording with excellent performances by one of Italy’s most famous harpsichordists, Francesco Cera, and the Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera conducted by early music specialist Diego Fasolis.

For many, Johann Sebastian Bach is ‘the’ composer of the Baroque period, a master of harmony, counterpoint and genre. During his lifetime he was particularly renowned as a virtuoso organist, and his compositions for the instrument have formed the core repertory of any aspiring organist ever since. The content of the Orgelbüchlein – a selection of chorale preludes composed while Bach held the post of Ducal Organist at Weimar – includes several pieces that are considered to be among Sebastian’s finest works. There is evidence that they were written for ‘teaching the various ways of treating a chorale, and the use of the pedal’, but they also have a definite spirituality – the dedication reads: ‘To God Almighty in praise, to everyman for instruction’. The compositions divide into groups intended for use throughout the liturgical year, from Advent to Pentecost. Italian organist and harpsichordist Francesco Cera is a renowned interpreter of 17thcentury keyboard music. He has performed on historical organs throughout Europe, and has recorded four of J.S. Bach’s concertos for harpsichord as well as Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas, which he has also performed at the Flanders Festival. He is joined on the recording by the Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera, directed by Diego Fasolis.

Bach: Complete Organ Works Volume 5

These chorale settings by Bach are for the various liturgical seasons of the year. Each chorale is set with a vocal text, sung by the Immortal Bach Ensemble, in either a mixed a cappella scoring or by members of the ensemble singing in direct unison with the organ.